It may not exactly feel like it in San Antonio, but summer is over. At least it should be. Cooler temperatures have finally arrived with some consistency, which means I now have to put on a light hoodie for my early morning walk with my dogs. Cooler weather has got me thinking more about summer impacts on pedestrians and cyclists here in town, so let’s take a look.
I’m identifying the “summer months” as May-August, which is roughly a summer break for students. I’m also looking at the 3 years pre-pandemic and the 3 years “post”-pandemic. I know that technically the pandemic ended earlier this year but at some point in 2021 it felt like things were back to something similar to the pre-2020 years, at least in Texas.
Here’s the key takeaway: The rate of pedestrian and cyclist incidents dipped by a notable 14% in the post-pandemic summers. Digging deeper, this decrease is attributed mainly to the drop in “possible injury” incidents. From 2017-2019, 185 individuals were potentially injured in crashes, in contrast to a mere 52 from 2021-2022, and a more reduced 29 in the summer of 2023.
Summer-time fatalities have decreased 12% compared to pre-pandemic deaths. Percentage differences are nice, but we’re still only talking about 4 fewer people killed from 2021-2023 and 2017-2019.
It’s definitely an unmitigated good that fewer pedestrians and cyclists are being killed on San Antonio’s streets. What’s not clear is why that is happening. I’m confident in stating that it’s not necessarily because San Antonio’s leaders have made Vision Zero a key policy implementation – if anything, it’s been largely forgotten since the Vision Zero Action Plan was created in 2016. There have been some “improvements” but none completed since 2019 and the ones that have been completed don’t look all that safe for anyone to me.
Another reason for the decrease in fatalities is that people are just walking and biking less. If people don’t feel safe going for a walk or trying to ride their bike, then they’re not going to do it. With cars continuing to remain the dominant form of personal transport here in San Antonio, biking and walking here will continue to be unsafe and lead to more and more people opting out of efficient and healthy ways to get around the city.
For access to the data, go here.
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